Apple Patents Hybrid USB 3.0/DisplayPort Connector

A freshly granted patent for Apple hints that the company may be bringing high speed USB 3.0 syncing support to the iPhone and iPad with a hybrid connector that supports data transfer along with DisplayPort video support. The patent shows the new connector first on Apple’s portable media devices, but indicates it could eventually work its way into the company’s Mac lineup, too, according to Patently Apple.

While Apple does use DisplayPort for video on Macs shipping today, it doesn’t include USB 3.0 support on any of its devices. Assuming the company adds this new hybrid connector to future devices, it seems Apple may be planning on supporting the faster USB standard at some point.

The shape of the connector looks strikingly similar to the dock connector plug Apple currently uses with the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Gaining a patent and implementing it in new products, however, aren’t necessarily the same thing. There’s no guarantee that Apple plans to use this hybrid connector in future devices, although the idea of faster data syncing would make most iPhone owners happy, and would make a great addition to the unreleased iPhone 5.